Chapter 653
“Hyung, are you okay?”
“Zeon!”
Levin and Brielle called out to Zeon with worried expressions.
Zeon asked them,
“You couldn’t see Krasias?”
“Huh?”
“Krasias?”
All they had seen was Zeon climbing the World Tree. They knew nothing of what had happened beyond that. Naturally, they had not seen Krasias, nor even a trace of the other races.
It was because the level of the two of them had not yet reached Zeon’s.
All they had seen was Zeon standing absentmindedly at the top of the World Tree.
Brielle asked carefully,
“You saw Krasias?”
“Yes! I saw him when he opened the rift and crossed over to Earth.”
“What was it like?”
“It wasn’t a pleasant sight.”
“I figured.”
Brielle nodded.
It was an event in which one world dragged another world into the abyss of destruction in order to survive.
It was not something anyone could bear to witness with a sound mind.
Only because it was Zeon could he maintain his reason after seeing Krasias. If it had been her or Levin, they might have gone mad.
Zeon’s gaze suddenly turned toward Giselle, who was standing to one side.
She looked curious about what had happened.
She had not seen what Zeon, Brielle, and Levin had witnessed.
It was proof that her level was lower than Levin’s or Brielle’s.
Zeon spoke.
“Let’s go inside.”
“Okay!”
Giselle replied with a face as expressionless as a doll’s.
The four of them headed deeper into the dungeon.
Fortunately—or perhaps unfortunately—the illusions no longer appeared.
Instead, what appeared before them was a large underground plaza.
At the center of the stone plaza stood a tower shaped like a lighthouse.
Floating above the top of the tower was a huge sphere.
The sphere looked exactly like a human eye.
It even possessed a pupil like that of a human eye.
The moment Brielle and Levin saw the eye floating above the tower, their bodies froze stiff.
Zeon did not find their reaction strange.
The eye’s level was far too high for the two of them to endure.
After frowning briefly, Zeon stared directly at the eye.
At that moment, the eye floating atop the tower also fixed its gaze on Zeon.
“So it was you. The one who showed me those visions...”
—Ze...on!
The reply came from Giselle’s mouth right beside him.
Like someone who had lost her soul, Giselle stared at Zeon with unfocused eyes.
A noble aura, difficult for anyone to approach, emanated from her entire body.
Even at Giselle’s dramatic change, Zeon was not surprised.
He had already realized that the Giselle before him was not the Giselle he originally knew.
Several times when he had come into contact with Giselle, he had secretly sent mana into her.
Normally, an Awakened would naturally reject foreign mana entering their body.
But no such rejection had occurred inside Giselle’s body.
Moreover, she had shown no sign whatsoever of sensing Zeon’s mana.
From that moment on, Zeon had begun to suspect her.
“Are you the real Lady Giselle’s doppelgänger, or your avatar?”
—I created a doll to meet you. Call it whatever you wish.
“And the real Lady Giselle?”
—She is well.
“That’s a relief. But who are you? Who are you to have shown me such sights?”
—I am Hamora.
“Hamora?”
—In Kurayan, I was called the Goddess of Compassion and Light.
“Surely you didn’t cross over in your complete form?”
—If I had, I would not have gone through such troublesome means to call you. The real me has already perished. I merely placed my final will within a holy relic and sent it here. In other words, you are conversing with the will of my past.
“I see.”
It was something that could not be understood by human common sense, but Zeon did not try to understand it.
After all, he had already conversed with Krasias within an illusion.
For beings of an unimaginably exalted level, anything was possible.
—I wanted to show you the true reason Kurayan perished...
“Why?”
—So that you may respond correctly as well. I do not wish for Earth to perish as Kurayan did.
“Then what will happen to you?”
—I am already a being that has perished. My mission is complete, so even this remnant shall disappear.
“Aren’t you afraid of complete annihilation?”
—I am not. My time ended together with Kurayan.
Hamora spoke calmly.
When Kurayan was destroyed, not only Hamora but all the other gods had perished as well.
Even Cobaltan, the chief god of Kurayan, had been unable to escape destruction. There was no way a lesser god could continue to exist while maintaining divinity.
Only a few holy relics containing the gods’ power had crossed over to Earth through unknown means.
The Eye of Hamora, currently looking down upon Zeon from atop the tower, was one of them.
Hamora possessed only one authority.
To create an environment within the dungeon as close to Kurayan as possible and recreate events of the past.
There was only one purpose.
To prevent what happened in Kurayan from happening on Earth.
To accomplish this, Hamora’s Eye read the memories of Jang Yong-beom’s raid team after they entered the dungeon and learned of Zeon’s existence.
To summon Zeon, Hamora’s Eye created an avatar resembling Giselle and sent it outside.
Hamora continued.
—I have shown you. How you respond is now up to you.
“Do you think a human like me can stop Krasias?”
—I do not know that either. The Dragon of Destruction, Krasias, is a transcendent being whom even the gods could not stop. I merely hope that Earth does not follow the same course as Kurayan.
“I understand.”
Just as Zeon nodded,
—It seems my time here has come to an end. I pray that the will of the gods accompanies your path ahead.
Crack!
Along with Hamora’s voice, the entire dungeon began shattering like glass.
The avatar Giselle that had conveyed Hamora’s will crumbled into dust and vanished, revealing the true appearance of the plaza.
On one side of the plaza was Jang Yong-beom’s raid team.
All of them were lying unconscious, and among them was the real Giselle.
“Hoo!”
Only after confirming their faces did Zeon let out a faint sigh of relief.
“Hyung!”
“Zeon!”
Levin and Brielle, who had only just regained their senses, ran over.
“Are you both alright?”
“My memory...”
“Why is Giselle here?”
Neither of them remembered anything that had happened moments ago.
Zeon said to them,
“There’s no time for a detailed explanation. Let’s talk after we get outside.”
“Yes, Hyung.”
“Okay!”
Hamora’s Eye had been the dungeon’s core.
Now that the core was gone, everyone would be able to leave the dungeon.
Zeon said to Levin and Brielle,
“Take all the useful items.”
As expected of a place created from a divine relic, several extraordinary-looking items could be seen inside.
At Zeon’s words, Brielle and Levin stored the items in their subspace.
When they had collected most of the items, a flash of light enveloped them and transported them outside.
“We’re outside.”
“Whew!”
Levin and Brielle let out sighs of relief.
Fortunately, Jang Yong-beom’s raid team had also been safely transported outside.
A short while later, the members of the raid team began regaining consciousness one by one.
“Ugh!”
“What happened?”
“This is...”
They had lost consciousness immediately after entering the dungeon and had no understanding of the situation.
“What happened? Why are you here?”
When Jang Yong-beom asked, Zeon explained everything that had occurred.
Of course, he did not mention Krasias or Hamora’s Eye.
Those were not things they needed to know, nor things they could handle.
After hearing the entire story, Jang Yong-beom and the real Giselle wore dumbfounded expressions.
“So you’re saying Giselle’s doppelgänger called for you?”
“Yes.”
“Damn it! No matter how many mysterious things happen in dungeons, this still has to make some kind of sense.”
Jang Yong-beom exploded in frustration.
It was difficult to believe, but he knew all too well that Zeon would never lie.
“Is Giselle’s doppelgänger dead?”
“Yes.”
“In the end, we owed you a favor without gaining anything.”
Jang Yong-beom’s expression was utterly miserable.
They had neither conquered the dungeon nor obtained any items.
And when he considered those who had died during the raid, there was no loss greater than this.
At that moment, Zeon said to Brielle and Levin,
“Can you bring out what you collected in the dungeon?”
“Okay!”
“Yes, Hyung.”
Without a moment’s hesitation, the two took out the items they had stored in their subspace.
Jang Yong-beom looked at Zeon with a puzzled expression.
“What is this?”
“The spoils from this dungeon.”
“I know that. But why?”
“Let’s split them.”
“Hmph! We’re not so shameless and lacking in pride that we’d accept that. Put them away!”
“Then think of it as an investment.”
“An investment?”
“Yes. You pushed yourselves trying to expand your raid team, didn’t you? Consider this our share in it.”
“That’s a condition overwhelmingly favorable to us. Is there anything else you want?”
“You know Levin’s problem-solver office, right?”
“I do.”
“If you ever need anything, use it.”
“That’s really all you want?”
“Yes.”
“If that’s the condition, then I’ll accept the investment.”
Only then did Jang Yong-beom accept Zeon’s proposal.
Watching the scene, Giselle shook her head.
“This feels disgusting.”
Just imagining that a doppelgänger with her exact appearance had been walking around while she was unconscious made her feel sick.
It felt as though her body had been violated.
Zeon said to Jang Yong-beom,
“Let’s return to the Steel Fortress now.”
“Let’s. Hoo...”
Jang Yong-beom replied with a sigh.
He had no face to show Zeon, but it was still better to travel with him back to the Steel Fortress.
The condition of his raid team was far from normal.
All of them had remained in a suspended-death state inside the dungeon for a long time.
Setting aside his pride and accompanying Zeon was the best choice for everyone.
Thus, Zeon and Jang Yong-beom’s raid team returned to the Steel Fortress together.
The desert sandstorms and demonic beasts that had tormented them on the way to the dungeon were no longer a threat to Jang Yong-beom’s team.
Thanks to that, everyone arrived safely at the Steel Fortress.
As soon as he entered the fortress, Jang Yong-beom announced a period of reorganization and returned to Neo Seoul.
Levin and Brielle also returned to Neo Seoul and World Tree Village respectively.
But for some reason, Zeon alone remained behind at the Steel Fortress.
“Hoo!”
Sitting outside the Steel Fortress, Zeon looked up at the sky.
Whoooosh!
A fierce wind was blowing in from beyond the desert.
“Why is there suddenly a sandstorm?”
“Get inside the fortress, quickly!”
The people and Awakened working outside hurried into the Steel Fortress.
But Zeon neither avoided the sandstorm nor entered the fortress.
Facing the raging sandstorm head-on, he muttered,
“Krasias!”
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